Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Oprah's head in a crop circle

Google Maps Errata

For a compendium of the odd and unusual in Google Maps try MapOfStrange.com. For the more prosaic sights try Google Sightseeing. For a blog assemblage of Google Map mashups try Google Maps Mania.

MapOfStrange.com

Google Sightseeing

Google Maps Mania

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

In 1997, this 580-pound stainless-steel tank plowed into the ground 50 yards from a Texas farmer's home and 150 yards from a major highway. In Oklahoma, a small piece of charred metal mesh from the same satellite breakup hit a woman in the shoulder but did not injure her.

Chicken Little was right

Sometime this Spring, the Pentagon will use a modified, ship-fired anti-ballistic missile to destroy USA-193, a malfunctioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite, the size of a short bus, which failed after launch in 2006. We're not supposed to worry since most man-made objects re-entering Earth's atmosphere burn up or impact some ocean. Since Sputnik was launched in 1957, the US Space Surveillance Network has tracked more than 26,000 space objects orbiting Earth ranging from multi-ton satellites to 10 pound pieces of spent rocket bodies. They currently track around 8,000 objects (the rest have re-entered), about 600 are operational satellites, 2,000 are non-operational satellites (like the USA-193) the rest are space debris. A hundred or more tracked objects re-enter each year, maybe a dozen or more are similar to the one pictured above. But that's not all. Orbiting Earth are 110,000 objects a centimeter and larger including nuts, bolts, astronaut gloves, MIR garbage bags, and other space missions detritus. Some of the bits and pieces scream along at 17,500 mph and create a significant hazard to operational satellites and humans. A tiny speck of paint from a satellite once dug a pit in a space shuttle window nearly a quarter-inch wide. And don't forget we haven't even included non-man-made objects like asteroids, comets, and minor planetary bodies. NASA, the United Nations, and the Union of Concerned Scientists maintain databases listing operational satellites. NASA's J-Track also has 3D animation of 900 satellites. Looking for real-time satellite and shuttle tracking for your location? Try Heavens-Above or N2YO, N2YO also has a quick link to USA-193. For disturbing imagery, try NASA's Orbital Debris Graphics or Harvard's Animations of solar system objects. For disturbing text try NASA's Near Earth Objects Close-Approaches. Clearly, space is not so much a vacuum as a debris field.

NASA - NSSDC - Master Catalog - Spacecraft

United Nations: Office for Outer Space Affairs

Union of Concerned Scientists Satellite Database

NASA - Science@NASA J-Track 3D

Heavens-Above

N2YO Satellite and Space Shuttle Tracking

N2YO Track USA 193

NASA Orbital Debris Graphics

Harvard Animations Page

NASA Near-Earth Object Close-Approaches

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

British Movietone News

Lost hours ahead.

Apparently complete digital archives of the UK Movietone cinema newsreels from 1929-1979. Free registration and Quicktime is required.

Movietone Newsreels

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Tell Me dance tutorial screen capture

The Korean Macarena?

The Wonder Girls a Korean pop girl-group which debuted last year. The choreography for their hit song "Tell Me" has gone viral in Korea. Everyone's doing it: girls, boys, men, women, celebrities, and even chickens. A YouTube search for "Wonder Girls Tell Me" got 1,620 hits. My Hangul is rusty so I couldn't search for videos on Korea's Daum. If you want to learn the dance, try one of the tutorials or iDance.

Wonder Girls: Tell Me

Tell Me: School Girls

Tell Me: Flight Attendants

Tell Me: Traffic Police

Tell Me: Baby

Tell Me: Chickens

Wonder Girls: Tell Me: Tutorial

Wonder Girls: Tell Me: Tutorial

Tell Me: iDance

Wonder Girls on MySpace.com